


Christmas Eve

by Stories_By_Bagels



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-14
Packaged: 2018-04-26 00:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4982806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stories_By_Bagels/pseuds/Stories_By_Bagels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the first Christmas Eve that all of SEES has been together so why not hold an exchange?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so a couple of things. First and foremost, this is in a timeline where all the major plot points are kind of pushed further on in the year so Nyx and October 4th and all that just kind of happens after this I guess? Second off I know that Japan typically doesn't do days off from school because of Christmas and stuff but just kind of put that out of your mind...
> 
> With all that out of the way I really hope that you guys enjoy... This is probably one of the longest things I've made so far and one that I've been really dedicated to finishing! This turned into a weird mix of Tale of the Magi crossed with like character interaction excercise mixed with Akihiko/Shinjiro relationship stuff. ((I wasn't super sure if I should tag it as such since they aren't in like a real deal relationship in this instance.))

12/22 ° Th  
Evening

Sporadic exhales bounced off the walls of the small room. Every time his fist connected he made sure it connected just a little harder than the punch before that one. The sweat accumulating on his forehead was beginning to roll down the contours of his face and onto his white shirt.

“Hey kid, hit the showers, I can smell you from the stairs.”

The boy punched the bag one final time before relaxing out of his stance facing the familiar boy.

“Hah, thanks coach.”

Shinjiro rolled his eyes as he tossed a rag to the flushed Akihiko and watched the other boy easily catch it and drape it over the back of his neck, letting out a content sigh.

“So what can I do you for Shinji? I assume it’s not to be my workout partner since you just kinda interrupted it.”

“Well that whole smell thing was part of it. The other thing was that Mitsuru wanted us all downstairs at the top of the hour.”

Akihiko had removed the rag from his neck and took a quick glance at the clock on his night stand. It was twenty until the top of the hour. Akihiko furrowed his brows.

“Thanks for the timely warning Shinji… But I’ll be there.”

Shinjiro rolled his eyes at the snark and began to turn to leave.

“Hey Shinji, thanks.”

“Whatever, it’s just a rag…”

With that Shinjiro shut the door leaving Akihiko to himself. He briskly wiped his face, arms, and legs with the rag which had warmed up a bit. He walked over to his drawers and opened the top one pulling out a clean pair of boxers, then went into the drawer under it and produced a clean t-shirt with some generic print on it, finally he opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a pair of black sweatpants with the school logo emblazoned on the left hip. He shut all the drawers and went into the bathroom subconsciously locking the door behind him.

He turned on the shower so that it could preheat and began to strip off all the sweaty articles of clothing. He paused to look at himself when he was just in his boxers. He traced the outline of his upper body with his eyes. An odd feeling of disapproval began to manifest but his eyes finally settled on the three rings that were dangling from the cord around his neck, one of gold, one of silver, and one of bronze.

Akihiko removed the cord and held the rings in his hand for a moment.

“Mom… Miki… I hope you guys are doing ok…”

Akihiko closes his fist around the rings and gives it a kiss before setting the cord onto the bathroom counter. He removes his boxers and steps into the steaming shower.

~ ~

Light chatter in the lounge of the dorm blended with the soft jazz music that was playing. Everyone was buzzing in anticipation for Christmas which was only a few days away.

“So Yuka-tan, you get me a gift yet? If you need some help deciding I will be more than happy to-”

“Uh, yeah, no. Sorry Junpei but I didn’t get you a gift this year and I really doubt I’ll be getting you one ever…”

“Ouch… harsh… Ah well, I guess that’s to be expected. Besides, I didn’t get you a gift anyway.”

Yukari shot Junpei a dirty look but the huge grin on his faced stayed. The girl turned to Fuuka who was sitting next to her.

“So Fuuka-chan are you gonna go home and see your family for Christmas?”

The timid girl looked down at the table for a moment before meeting Yukari’s gaze.

“I haven’t decided honestly. I love my family but sometimes I wonder if it would be worth actually paying them a visit if the only thing they plan on doing is chastising me…”

Aigis, who had been sitting across from Fuuka now looked to her. “Fuuka-san, if you do not wish to return I think that is OK. No one should want to go somewhere they do not feel at home and happy. ”

The girl smiled, “Thanks Aigis… That makes me feel a little less guilty about the consideration.”

“Of course. And what about you Ken-kun? Do you plan on going to see any of your friends from your old dorm on Christmas Day?”

Ken had been engrossed with giving Koromaru a belly rub so when his name was called he quickly turned around.

“I haven’t really decided yet… Honestly I can’t think of anyone whom I would consider close enough to spend the day with… I’ll probably just wind up staying back here for the day with Koro so that he doesn’t get loney.”

The dog began to wag his tail at the mention of his name and he gave a single bark.

“Koromaru-san says he appreciates you thinking about him Ken-kun.”

The boy looked at the dog with a large grin and nodded.

Everyone’s gaze shifted to the stairs for a moment when they heard heavy footsteps decending. Shinjiro had his hands stuck in his coat pockets as usual and he couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable when all eyes were on him.

“Ah Shinjiro… Nice of you to join us. Is Akihiko ever planning on leaving his room?”

“He said he’ll be here…”

Mitsuru uncrossed and crossed her legs as she shifted in the arm chair she was sitting in. Shinji took the edge seat of the sofa next to Junpei. The other boy turned to him and began to talk about his plans which Shinjiro only half listened to.

A few minutes passed and loud steps could be heard coming from the stairs.

“Ah… There’s Akihiko. He was almost late…”

Akihiko knew he couldn’t be late or else Mitsuru would never allow him to hear the end of it. He jogged over to the edge seat of the sofa across from Shinjiro and their leader shuffled a little to the right to allow him more room. Ken got up from where he was and took a seat between their leader and Aigis and Koromaru followed and laid at his feet.

“Alright, now that everyone is here, we can begin. The reason I have called you all here is to make sure everyone is on the same page for the coming Christmas holiday. While I know many of us will choose to stay in the dorm I would still like to make sure that everyone has at least a general idea of whereabouts so that if trouble arises we can easily make contact.”

“But Mitsuru-senpai, isn’t that why we have phones?”

Junpei was the one to speak up and Mitsuru looked to him.

“While that is a fair point Iori, I personally will be leaving for a few days to take care of some end of year finances with the company so contacting me may be a bit more of a challenge than a simple phone call.”

“Wow senpai, not even allowing yourself to take Christmas… That’s some dedication!”

Yukari’s eyes were sparkling in admiration.

“Well then, why don’t we go in a circle starting with Akihiko?”

The boxer shook his head. “I don’t have any plans really, I may go out on some runs but I’m not planning on leaving the Iwatodai area…”

Junpei spoke up next, “Me and leader over there were planning on taking the train out of here early Christmas morning to go and tool around some other cities nearby.”

The blue haired boy nodded silently in agreement before turning to look at Ken. The younger boy looked down at Koromaru and then over to Aigis.

“I uh… don’t really have any plans to leave myself… I don’t have anyone in particular to see or celebrate with…”

“I also do not have any plans on leaving.” Koromaru barked a few times. “Koromaru says that if he is to go anywhere he would be with someone from our dorm.”

Mitsuru nodded and turned her gaze over to Fuuka.

“I-I thought about it for a bit and have decided that I’m going to my parents’ house for a Christmas brunch so I’ll probably be gone for the morning but plan on being back for the evening.”

“Wow that sounds like a good idea Fuuka-chan… My mom has been talking to me about… meeting her new husband and brunch sounds like a good idea since it means I wouldn’t have to be out during the later hours.”

“Yukari-chan, would you like to walk with me on the way there and back? We can set up a meeting place so we don’t have to be alone the whole time.”

Yukari smiled and nodded, “That sounds awesome Fuuka, thanks!”

Once again all eyes were on Shinjiro and he couldn’t help but glare a little.

“Nah, it’s too damn cold now to leave the dorm so I’ll probably hang back in my room…”

“Oh, Shinjiro-senpai! I just thought of something! Why don’t you make us Christmas dinner?! I can’t begin to imagine the mouthwatering good food you could make!”

Junpei was looking at Shinjiro with pleading eyes and the man grimaced.

“Hey Junpei, first of all that’s really rude trying to make Shinjiro-senpai cook for you when he never offered in the first place and second of all that’s unfair to Mitsuru-senpai since she won’t be here to eat. Besides didn’t you just get finished saying how you and him were going to go ‘tool around’ some other cities? You wouldn’t even be here to eat!

“Well why not make it a Christmas Eve dinner instead? It will guarantee more people being here to eat food since it won’t cut into any plans. Also you know what usually comes with dinner? DESSERT! If Shinjiro-senpai is this good of a cook he must be like a godly baker!”

Yukari rolled her eyes and shook her head but secretly felt that Junpei was probably right.

Shinjiro shifted in his seat and Mitsuru took the motion as her queue to bring everyone back on track.

“So in summary we will have 5 people here at the dorm, 2 people absent with family for the morning, 2 absent for an unknown amount of time and myself absent on the day of Christmas?”

Everyone nodded at the brief summary.

“Alright than if there are no other points that need to be covered than this meeting is adjourned.”

“Oh, wait a moment Mitsuru-senpai!”

Fuuka’s soft voice spoke up and the red haired girl looked at her with a soft smile.

“Yes, Yamagishi?”

“U-uh… are we doing any sort of present exchange? I mean it is everyone’s first Christmas together after all…”

Mitsuru put a delicate finger to her lip in thought.

“I hadn’t really considered one since I hadn’t known everyone’s status until now… Does everyone want to do this sort of exchange?”

“Hell yeah! If there’s a chance that Yukari could actually give me a gift than I’m all for it!”

Yukari sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose standing up from her seat, “I’ll go get some paper and pens so we can write down names…”

“Thank you Takeba…”

Yukari disappeared into the kitchen.

“Oh… A-And we can set a price limit so that way the gifts are all about the same quality…”

“I like this idea Fuuka-san… But how is Koro going to contribute a gift? He doesn’t have any money…”

Fuuka giggled, “Would you like to be in charge of Koro-chan’s gift Ken?”

The boy’s eyes lit up at the sound of it. He quickly coughed into his hand and regained a calm demeanor. “Well I mean unless someone else wants to do it than I am more than happy too.”

No one rose an objection.

“Alright then Amada you’ll be in charge of Koromaru’s gift. I will provide you with the funding for his gift… As far as that goes does a 3000 yen limit sound fair to everyone?”

Everyone exchanged looks and nods.

“Then it’s settled, we’ll host a gift exchange. I assume Christmas Eve is the date as to not interfere with any made plans.”

Once again no one raised any objections and Yukari returned with a handful of papers ripped from the small spiral they kept in the kitchen, pens, and a small stock pot. She set it down in the center of the coffee table and handed everyone a sheet of paper giving two pens to the right side, one to Mitsuru and one to the left side.

Everyone quickly scribbled down names and placed their sheet of paper into the pot. Koromaru whined down by Ken’s feet and the boy smiled.

“Here you go Koro-chan…”

Ken set down a piece of paper and held out the pen for the dog. He gently bit down and wagged his head back and forth before nudging Ken’s shin to show he was done. The boy picked up the piece of paper and folded it in half, placing his and Koro’s names in to the pot.

“Alright, has everyone put their name…? Good, than Yamagishi since this was your idea why don’t you shuffle the names around and start us off?”


	2. Chapter 2

Fuuka nodded and picked up the pot, setting it gently in her lap. She shut her eyes and put her hand in, swirling around the papers for a moment before pulling one out. She then handed the pot off to Yukari who had taken her place back on the sofa. The process repeated until only Koromaru needed a name. Aigis handed the pot back to Ken who picked up one of the pens and the last sheet of paper. He wrote ‘Koro’ on the outside flap.

“Alright, everyone go ahead and open up your piece of paper.” A moment of crinkling and a few mumbles in surprise.

“Did everyone get a name that wasn’t theirs?”

Fuuka posed the question and amazingly no one had pulled their own name.

“Well then, I guess, is there anything else you needed to speak with us about Mitsuru-senpai?”

“Just as a final note, you are all free to go into Tartarus without me since Yamagishi can lead you all just please do your best to not overdo it. Outside of that I think this will conclude the meeting for tonight.”

Everyone except for the senior SEES members slowly rose up from their seats. Junpei let out an obnoxious yawn that Yukari fanned away with her hand. Fuuka went and scratched Koromaru’s ears biding him and Ken a goodnight before turning and heading back up the stairs. The SEES leader stretched his hands above his head before stuffing them back into his pockets and returning to his room for the night, Aigis about two steps behind him.

“Good night Sanada-senpai, Mitsuru-senpai, Aragaki-senpai…”

“Good night Amada.”

Ken’s gaze lingered on Shinjiro and Shinjiro returned the gaze from under his beanie. Ken made a quick bow and then went up the stairs.

Only the three senior members were left. None of them made a move to get up but none of them said anything either and allowed the jazz in the background to envelope them.

Another beat of silence passed before Mitsuru finally spoke tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.

“I can’t believe how large our organization has grown. I would have never anticipated this level of growth in such a short time…”

Akihiko smiled to himself, “And everyone is so amazing and unique that replacing them would be impossible…”

Shinjiro pulled his beanie down a little further and didn’t offer any agreement instead keeping his eyes downcast on Koromaru who had moved to his feet after Ken left. The dog looked up into Shinjiro’s eyes and whimpered.

“What’s the matter Koromaru? You need to go on a W-A-L-K?”

At the sound of the word the dog’s ears immediately perked up and his tail began to hit the floor in excitement.

Mitsuru smiled at the dog and stroked him down his spine.

“If you plan on taking him for a walk than I think I will go ahead and excuse myself for the night since I need to leave early tomorrow…”

Mitsuru stood up from her chair and flattened some of the wrinkles in her pants. She walked over to the cabinet where the CD player was. She switched it off and then faced the other two.

“Good night Akihiko, Shinjiro.”

She walked away and up the stairs.

“You gonna turn in Aki?”

The boy shook his head. “Nah, actually would you care if I came on you guys walk?

“If you want to go than go put on something warmer than a t-shirt and sweatpants.”

“’K, I’ll be back in five.” Akihiko rose from the sofa and jogged over to the stairs his footfalls echoing the fact he was taking them two at a time.

Shinjiro looked down at Koromaru who was now up on his feet, tail wagging.

“Are you gonna be warm enough with just your coat dude?”

The dog gave a quick affirmation bark.

“Alright, if you say so…”

He stood up from the couch and adjusted his own coat to bring it closer to his body. He absentmindedly walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge to check its contents. There wasn’t enough of anything to make a coherent meal out of.

_Heh, even if they wanted me to make dinner I couldn’t. There’s nothing in here to use!_

“Alright Shinji, I’m ready to go when you and Koromaru are!”

Shinjiro heard Akihiko coming down the stairs taking them once at a time rather than two. He shut the fridge door and walked out, meeting Akihiko at the front door. The other boy was wearing a red turtleneck under his black school jacket, a pair of black pants and some loafers and his iconic black leather gloves.

“You’re ears gonna be ok Aki? You don’t have a beanie or some earmuffs?”

Akihiko shrugged, “My ears haven’t fallen off yet so I doubt that they’ll fall of this go round!”

“Alright moron but if they start to hurt or anything you don’t get to complain about it!”

“Pfft, when have I ever complained about anything Shinji?”

“Hmm, let’s think, oh, that’s right, how about an hour and a half ago when I brought you that rag and you made a snarky comment about how I was interrupting your ‘workout sesh’.”

“I-I wasn’t complaining! I was just….”

Shinjiro chuckled, “Yeah, exactly. Now come on, I don’t want it to get to late while we’re still out.”

~ ~ ~

Somehow or another the three of them had wound up at Naganaki Shrine. Since they never put Koromaru on a leash he more or less led the way the whole walk and his accompaniment would follow him to wherever.

Koromaru quickly bound up the steps leaving Shinjiro and Akihiko to stand at the base of the Tori gate before the stairs.

The clouds lingering in the sky had a bruised blue tint to them and they seemed ready to burst.

“You think it will be another white Christmas Shinji? If it does snow that’ll be the fifth one in a row…”

Shinjiro shrugged his shoulders. There was a small pause and Akihiko looked over at Shinjiro for a moment before returning his gaze back up the clouds.

“I can’t believe this Christmas will mark 13 years of knowing you …”

Shinjiro felt his eyebrows come together and he looked over at Akihiko.

“Aki you sound like my girlfriend more than my best friend.”

“So than you admit it?”

Shinjiro gave him an incredulous look.

“What? That we’re friends? I mean I thought that was kinda-”

“No, not just friends, but BEST friends.”

Shinjiro rubbed his face with his hands and broke his gaze with the other boy.

“I can’t believe you. You act more like you’re STILL 13. ‘not just friends, but BEST friends’. God…”

Shinjiro couldn’t stop himself from adding a barking laugh to the end of the sentence. Akihiko laughed along with him.

“Man… 13 long years of this… I can’t believe it.”

“You’re telling me Shinji… So much has happened to all of us…”

Shinjiro felt his chest tighten and he balled up his right hand in his pocket.

His knuckle brushed against something and he unclenched his fist allowing his fingers to ghost against the gold pocket watch that he had with him. He wasn’t sure why he still held onto, especially in his pocket. The thing was so weathered you could hardly tell it was even gold at first glance. He pulled it out and clicked it open. It was close to 10:30 pm.

Akihiko had caught the glimmer out of the corner of his eye because he looked down at Shinjiro’s hand and smiled.

“Wow, you STILL have that old thing… I thought you’d’ve traded it by now… Or at least gotten a chain for it.”

“What the hell COULD I trade it for? Also you’re one to talk. You still have that same crappy leather strap for your rings… I would have thought you’d gotten rid of it in favor of something to match the rings.”

“Eh, was never a big priority of mine… The rings are what matter, not what holds them.”

Shinjiro let the statement stick in his mind before offering a rebuttal.

“But what happens if that support suddenly snaps? Than everything gets scattered AND you have no way to keep it all together…”

Akihiko grimaced, “Yeah, I guess…”

The clouds had begun to move overhead and a gust of wind told Shinjiro that it was time to head back to the dorm before the wind chill ate them alive.

“I’m gonna go grab Koro real quick.”

Shinjiro snapped the watch shut and put it back into his pocket before walking up the stairs.

Akihiko shoved his own hands into his pockets and looked up at the sky another gust of wind making him shiver. He hadn’t realized it but his ears were beginning to numb from the cold.

_They’re probably a shade similar to Yukari’s sweater…_

Shinjiro was quick to return with Koro and the three of them headed back to the dorm in silence.

~ ~ ~

12/23 ° Fr  
Morning

Shinjiro made his way down the grand staircase of the dorm. It was early enough that the moon and sun were still in the process of changing places. As his feet hit the carpet on the ground floor he saw the familiar long red hair falling down the back of Mitsuru who was holding her motorcycle helmet underneath one of her arms.

“Hey… since you’re taking your bike be careful on the way. I heard that there’s a good chance for some snow and it would be really unfortunate if you wound up getting in an accident.”

Mitsuru turned around to face Shinjiro. She set her helmet down on the front desk they had and met Shinjiro halfway.

“I didn’t expect you to be up this early. Are you just seeing me off?”

Shinjiro shook his head, “Nah I just came down to get something warm to drink since it’s so freaking cold.”

Mitsuru furrowed her brow. “But I thought we started heating the dorm…”

“We did. But there must be a leak or something with my window ‘cause my room is freezing and I don’t have a space heater to combat it.”

“Would you like for me to have someone come and address that for you? I can have them here within the hour.”

“No Mitsuru, you’re fine. I’ll deal with it like a big boy.”

The girl let out a huff of a laugh. “If you say so Shinjiro. Now I must be going. Oh, actually before I go can I ask you to do a favor for me?”

“Yeah sure, whad’d’ya need?”

“Well since I’ll be absent during the time I presume you will all go shopping I ask that you please give this to Ken.”

Mitsuru handed Shinjiro a plain white, unsealed mailing envelope. He turned it over in his hands and opened it up. Some bills were neatly tucked inside in ascending order of value.

“This is Ken’s money to purchase Koromaru’s gift for whomever. I was planning on simply leaving it up here with his name on it…”

Shinjiro tucked in the flap of the envelope. “I’ll be sure to get it to him.”

“Thank you Shinji. I need to get going for now… I hope you and everyone have a fun time going shopping…”

Shinjiro could hear the subtle note of sadness as she mentioned the shopping.

“You know that you don’t have to go right? I’m sure the Kirijo group would do ok if you didn’t show up until after New Years holiday… Also when do you plan on going shopping while you’re there?”

Mitsuru shook her head, “It isn’t fair of me to simply put off helping the company just because of the holidays.”

Shinjiro heaved a sigh knowing that he wasn’t going to get through to her.

“However… I appreciate your concern. If I could, I would certainly stay behind and enjoy everyone’s company.”

She zipped up the leather jacket she was wearing and walked back over to where she had set down her helmet, fishing out a pair of gloves that had been stuffed inside and slipped them on. She tucked the helmet back under her arm and left without a goodbye but Shinjiro didn’t mind since he knew that was how she tended to be. He shut the door behind her and turned back around.

As he had shut the door Aigis had noiselessly made her way downstairs and was paused at the base of the stairs. Shinjiro held her gaze for a moment before stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking towards the sitting area. She took the gaze as a sign of greeting and walked over to Shinjiro.

“Good morning Shinjiro-san. What are you doing up so early?”

“I feel like I should ask you that same question.”

“Well since I don’t require more than a few hours of sleep a day I have been awake for a long time now. My sensors picked up Mitsuru-san and your conversation so I began to come downstairs to say goodbye but Mitsuru-san was already out the door by the time I made it here… I am truly amazed at her dedication. She must make so many sacrifices…”

Shinjiro chuckled, “For as long as I’ve known her she’s always been that serious and dedicated, especially when it came to the Kirijo Group and Tartarus and stuff.”

Aigis hummed in thought before taking a seat on one of the couches and placing her hands into her lap.

“Shinjiro-san, would you like to accompany us to go shopping for gift exchange presents?”

“Who’s ‘us’?”

“Well if my predictions are accurate I would say everyone but Mitsuru-san”

“Uhhh, I… don’t know… Besides if we all go together as a group how are we supposed to keep our gifts secret from each other?”

“Oh come on Shinji, that’s a piss poor excuse. You know you don’t have anything else to do and besides isn’t it a little rude to wait until the last minute?”

Akihiko had apparently come down as well and was making his way over. He was wearing the same sweatpants from last night and a black wife-beater. Despite his short hair it was still disheveled.

“Who died and let you give me orders?”

“Sounds like someone hasn’t had their tea…”

Shinjiro balled a fist as Akihiko walked past him into the kitchen. Shinjiro was close enough to get in a quick punch in the back but he knew better.

“Good morning Akihiko-san.”

The boxer paused in the doorway and turned around and saw Aigis. He smiled nodded before continuing his walk into the kitchen.

“Shinjiro-san I never knew you drank tea. I will add this information to my database for future reference.”

Shinjiro sighed. _It’s too damn early to be dealing with these two…_

He loved to drink it but when he did it in front of others he always felt like he was being subtly ridiculed with every question they asked him about it.

“What kind?” “How do you take it?” “Do you prefer sugar or honey?”

He decided to follow Akihiko into the kitchen. Why stop at this point? He was already up so damn to anyone who mocks him for it. _Besides most people SHOULD still be in bed at this point…_

He opened one of the cabinets and studied his options. There was earl grey, a fruity white tea, an orange infused green tea, and just plain old English breakfast tea. He decided on some earl grey and fished out two tea bags. He shut that cabinet and opened the one that contained the mugs. He grabbed the largest one he could see and placed the two tea bags in it.

For a long while there wasn’t any noise aside from the steady drips coming from the coffee machine that Akihiko had switched on. Eventually the kettle started to boil and Shinjiro made sure to turn it off so that it didn’t disturb any of the others. He poured out the hot water and pulled down a small plate and placed it over the top of the mug.

“So why are YOU up so early Aki?”

“I wanted to get in a short run before we went out for the day… Was kinda debating whether to take Koromaru along but since I don’t see him out here I figure he’s up with Ken and there’s no need to disturb them. So what’s with the hesitation on going out Shinji? I know you lean towards anti-social tendencies but this is the first time in a while all of us here in the dorm are going to go out that isn’t related to shadows. Don’t you want to go have fun?”

Shinjiro swallowed and scrunched up his face. _He essentially just threw my argument against Mitsuru leaving right back at my face._

“Yeah you’re right…”

Akihiko smirked and snapped with his fingers. “It’s settled then and you’re NOT allowed to back out at the last minute for some asinine reason. If you do I’ll beat you up!”

Shinjiro rolled his eyes. "Pfft, we'll see if you can even get close enough to do that in the first place."


	3. Chapter 3

12/23 ° Fr  
Daytime

“Is everyone here? Does everyone have their money and the names of the person they’re shopping for?”

Fuuka posed the question to the group of people who had steadily filled up the chairs and couches. Everyone aside from Mitsuru was present and bundled up as needed.

“Come on! Let’s get GOING already! I’m so excited!”

Junpei’s legs were quickly rocking up and down in his excitement and Koromaru’s tail almost matched their pace.

“Hold on a second Junpei we don’t even really have a game plan yet.”

“But do we even need a game plan Yuka-tan? We’re just going shopping! Do you have to map out your route when YOU go shopping?”

Yukari raised her lip at Junpei. “Nope. That’s beside the point anyway. Where are we going first? I figured Iwatodai is a good start since it’s a pretty big place and it’s close to the dorm.”

“I think that is a good plan of action Yukari-san. Does anyone have any objections?”

Everyone shook their head and Aigis nodded in approval. “Then let us all be on our way.”

All of the SEES members get up from their seat and the group left the dorm in a large swarm. As they made their way through the streets everyone buzzed to their neighbor about where they were considering going first. Once the members of SEES had arrived at the station they were quick to divide and make their ways into the shops the complex had.

Minato and Fuuka had wound up going into the same store. It was an odd store that didn’t have a specialization like clothes or books it just had a little bit of everything.

“Oh, Leader-san!”

“Oh hey Fuuka… I didn’t think anyone else really knew about this store so I’m kind of surprised to see someone from our mob in here.”

“I come in here occasionally if Bookworms doesn’t have anything that piques my interest…”

Minato hums in surprise. “Well would you like to accompany me for now? Hopefully I’m not your secret Santa…”

Fuuka shook her head, “No actually I have to purchase a gift for Aigis. However I’m kind of stuck on what to get her… I’ve never had to shop for a robot before…”

The blue haired boy lightly chuckled, “Well if it makes you feel any better I can’t really say I’ve had to gift shop for a robot either…”

“Hmm, I just don’t know what she would want. I figured something practical like a personalized mug or something but then I thought how cheesy of a gift that is… Oh but enough about that, who are you shopping for?”

“Junpei. Not really digging that but I mean it’s whatever I know pretty much anything I get him will probably make him happy, he’s a pretty easy guy to please.”

Fuuka nodded in agreement before laying her fingers lightly on her lips in thought.

“Well maybe if I help you with Junpei’s gift a flash of inspiration will come to me… Would you mind?”

The boy shook his head, “Absolutely not. Here come with me over to the clothing section I want to try and see if they have any baseball caps. I know that Junpei loves baseball and he almost never takes off that current hat he wears so I know that if I bought him a new one he would certainly get some good wear off it.”

“Good wear off it huh? Maybe if I bought Aigis a new nightgown maybe?”

“I don’t think they sell nightgowns here… You would probably have to go over to Paulownia.”

Fuuka let out a small sigh, “Yeah you’re probably right Leader-san… Gosh I’ve never had this much trouble before… But then again I guess this proves how little I really KNOW about Aigis-san…”

“That’s not necessarily true Fuuka. Aigis hasn’t really expressed any interests outside of helping us in our fight against shadows. I think it’s more that Aigis hasn’t really found herself yet than you haven’t gotten to know her well enough.”

Fuuka clutched her right arm with her left hand.

“I think that no matter what you get her she’ll just be happy about the fact that this is her first Christmas with all of us. It will be a new memory for her to hold onto.”

“A new memory? Oh! That’s it! I know what to get her!”

Fuuka quickly walked off back towards the front of the store. When they first came inside she had noticed a small crafting section so maybe they had something…

She turned the corner into the aisle and was greeted with what she was looking for. A section of the shelves was devoted to scrapbooks. There was a variety of colors, patterns, material and thicknesses however Fuuka was immediately drawn to a scrapbook with a simple red gingham design made of cloth. There was a small rectangular cut out in the front that seemed like it was supposed to hold a picture.

_Maybe I should put a photo in there? Or should I leave it empty and let her put one in herself? Although now that I think about it is there really any group photo of everyone in SEES together? I don’t believe so however I don’t think that really makes or break this. I just need to get her some colored paper and maybe some stickers and that should help her be on her way._

Fuuka held the scrapbook to her chest as she made her way back over to the clothing section. A small wave of relief washed over her when she found that their leader was still there looking around.

“Did you have any luck in find a cap for Junpei-kun?”

“Eh, a little I guess… I’m kind of torn between two different ones. There’s this one-“He held out a baseball cap that had a similar color to Junpei’s current hat except it had the symbol of a local baseball team. He held out the other hat they had had found that was a sky blue color with no distinct symbol or patterning.

“That’s a tough choice… Although I think that the blue one is a bit prettier personally…”

“Then that’s the one I’ll give to him… And maybe I’ll find something else to go along with later on like some candy or something since this isn’t super pricey.”

“Well, don’t say that you heard this from me but there was one time where I saw Junpei eating one of those matcha infused chocolate bars. He swears up and down he doesn’t like sweets but I’m sure if you got him one of those he’d like it…”

“Really? I don’t see Junpei as much of a chocolate kind of guy…”

“I didn’t see Junpei-san as a chocolate guy either but I guess we all have different surprises.”

~ ~

Junpei let out a loud sneeze that caused Koromaru to flinch in surprise.

“Sorry boy, guess someone is furiously talking about me…”

Aigis looked over at Junpei with her head tilted to the side.

“What do you mean Junpei-san? There is no one from our group of friends here…”

Junpei laughed a little. “Oh yeah I guess you don’t know this one. Well I’ve heard from various sources that whenever you sneeze that means that someone is talking about you and when you’re ears start to burn that means that they’re saying bad thing about you.”

“How peculiar. I would have never imagined something like sneezing could be onset by someone merely talking about you when you are not around…”

“Y-Yeah… life is strange I guess… Anyway do you think I could enlist your help with something Aigis?”

“Most definitely. How may I be of assistance?”

“Well yah see, in a rather cruel twist of fate it seems that I’m the one who has to buy Yuka-tan a present as part of the Christmas exchange. Problem is, I have ZERO idea what to get for her that wouldn’t just be really creepy or send the wrong message or something…”

“Well Junpei-san what would you say are Yukari-chan’s interests? I know that gifts tend to be based off of whatever the recipient is interested in.”

“Well she’s part of the archery club and uh… she fights shadows with us and um…. She’s a girl? I have no idea.”

Koromaru barked a few times down by Junpei’s ankles and Aigis looked down at him.

“Koromaru-san says that maybe getting her an article of clothing would be a good thing…”

“But what can I get her that’s not weird? Like jewelry and shirts and stuff seemed something more appropriate from her girlfriends but me? The guy who teases her and stuff? I don’t think anything past a simple... a simple… I don’t even know! Besides what clothing costs less than 3000 yen anyway?”

“It doesn’t have to be something large… Why not small accessories?”

“But Aigis like I said jewelry isn’t something I can give to her without giving a wrong message. She would probably just look at it and then up to me and be like ‘are you serious?’ and then never wear it.”

There were some moments of silence as the three walked down the boulevard. The shops they passed all had large colorful signs in the windows offering deals and discounts to those who chose to enter their store.

“Hey can we duck in somewhere really fast? My ears are starting to get a little too cold for my taste…”

“I have no problem with it however will Koromaru be able to come inside as well? I’m not sure many establishments allow pets in.”

“Ah to hell with them. I’ll deal with it if they say anything but honestly if they have any holly jolly spirit they’ll let him stay.”

Aigis smiled revealing a small amount of her teeth.

“Junpei-san you are very kind.”

“Thanks I guess?”

After going down a few more doors the three entered one of the Power Record stores that was around the city. Aigis has said something about getting some CDs here for her secret santa.

“I have to buy a gift for our leader and I thought that maybe some new music would be a good gift since he always has his music player with him. I went through it and compiled data on what kind of music he preferred. He seems to enjoy a blend of alternative rock and indie rock with the occasional pop punk song.”

“Yeah I could see all of that being his style… I wish my gift could be as simple as just getting some CDs…”

Junpei let out a heavy sigh and shoved his hands into his pants pockets, a scowl taking over his expression.

“Something occurred to me on our way over here Junpei-san. While I know that the winter months will be drawing to a close in a few months why not get Yukari-san something to combat the cold? I noticed that her usual winter wear has a fair amount of holes and doesn’t really seem like it provides that much warmth for her. So maybe some small accessories to help keep her warm… Perhaps a scarf and gloves?”

“No wait Aigis I just thought of something even better than that. I’ll get her some earmuffs and maybe something to go along with’em. I’ve known Yuka-tan for long enough to know that she doesn’t really dig the scarf look on herself… And I mean I think Akihiko already has the gloves market cornered so I wouldn’t want there to be any animosity because of that.”

Junpei couldn’t help the large grin on his face as he imagined Akihiko’s reaction.

“Thanks Aigis! I would’ve never thought about just getting her something simple like that! I’m gonna go run across the street really fast into that little boutique… I guess just meet me there whenever you and Koromaru get done with your shopping. Oh, speaking of Koromaru. I know that Ken-kun is in charge of your gift but who is your secret santa?”

The dog stayed silent at the question.

“It seems that Koromaru-san doesn’t want to tell you… I wonder why?”

“Well whatever I’ll find out eventually! Well anyway I’m gonna go so I’ll see you in a bit!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey look a weird character interaction study thing part1


	4. Chapter 4

“Oh look, there goes Junpei! I wonder where he’s running off to in such a hurry.”

“There’s no telling with him Akihiko-senpai. Frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if he left his wallet somewhere and is frantically searching for it.”

“Haha, yeah that’s probably a likely story…”

Yukari and Akihiko walked past the store that Junpei had rushed into. Yukari held her hands together behind her back absentmindedly looking from store window to store window. She wasn’t sure where to even begin for her secret santa. She had known the guy for less than 2 months and only knew surface level things about him.

“Akihiko-senpai… What does Shinjiro-senpai like?”

“Shinji? I don’t really think there is something in particular he LOVES. I mean you know he dabbles in cooking occasionally when he gets on a kick but outside of those occasional flares there’s not much that defines his interests.”

“Oh come on Senpai! You’ve known the guy the longest of any of us and that’s all you have to say. ‘Nothing in particular’! God I’m gonna get him the worst gift I can feel it in my guts…”

“Sorry Yukari… It’s just that Shinji’s never been super open to me when it comes to his hobbies… He’ll talk to me about a lot of things but when it comes to talking about himself it’s a grunt and an immediate shut out. ‘S’how it’s always been…”

“Oh sorry I didn’t realize…”

“No need to apologize! Not your fault he has certain tendencies…”

Akihiko’s voice trailed off into the chilly air that was stirred up by a passing breeze that made Yukari shiver a little.

“Are you gonna be ok walking around out here? Do you wanna come do your Christmas shopping with me? Who knows maybe we can help each other when it comes to picking a gift ‘cause to be honest I’m kinda stuck as well…”

“Senpai, are you asking me out on a date?”

Yukari was obvious with the tease in her voice but the question still managed to get Akihiko flustered the boy quickly clamming up, his face turning a light shade of pink.

“T-That’s not… I- I just thought maybe…”

“Senpai, I’m 100% joking.”

There’s a pained look on Akihiko’s face. “Oh my god… I’m so embarrassed…”

“Really? I couldn’t tell at all.” Yukari also sprinkled a teasing tone into her word which only made Akihiko even more flustered and she giggled as the two of them began climbing up the concrete spiral stairs.

Yukari wasn’t super familiar with the upper level of Iwatodai as she never really needed to visit the upper level outside of the occasional meeting with their leader at Wild Duck afterschool. The two entered the first non-food shop they saw.

“So who’s your secret santa Akihiko-senpai? You told me you were stuck so I figured it wasn’t Mitsuru-senpai or Shinjiro-senpai…”

“It’s uh… Fuuka-chan. I have no idea what to get her. I don’t know her super well past all that business with her getting locked in the gym… But I’m certainly not one to back down from a challenge!”

“Well I know Fuuka is a secret computer nut so maybe try and find her something tied to computers?”

“This is a good start I’m just not super sure which direction to take it in… I mean it’s hard to go wrong with like a dumb throw away flash drive but I need to get her something more than just that.”

Yukari had been observing some of the stuff that was on the shelves in front of them. Nothing was jumping at her in terms of gift materials.

“Maybe you should get her a book too. I KNOW Fuuka loves to read. At least with something as general as books your bound to get it right. Just maybe don’t get her any cookbooks…”

The two had begun wandering down a new aisle and Yukari was steadily looking back and forth between the shelves that rose above her by a small amount. Akihiko let out a thoughtful hum. He never really paid attention to these kind of small details… except when it came to Shinjiro but that was irrelevant. _Speaking of Shinji… Should I get him something for Christmas too? I mean I don’t have to give it to him during the exchange… I could do it in private. Well if anything catches my eye maybe I will._

A loud gasp from Yukari made Akihiko leave his thoughts and he tensed. She was a few steps ahead of him and was stopped for some reason. Akihiko jogged up to her and was finding the reason for the outcry.

“It’s perfect!”

Yukari turned around and was holding a large box.

“’14 piece knife set plus bonus sharpener’?”

“For Shinjiro-senpai! I mean any good chef has to have a good tool kit to go along with, right!?”

Akihiko relaxed running his hand through his hair.

“I mean I don’t know if purple is the best color choice for him… But if that’s the only one they have then I think you should go for it… Good to see you having better luck than me.”

“Don’t worry senpai I’ll keep accompanying you. I… don’t really have much to do back at the dorm anyway. Besides, spending time with you is actually pretty fun!”

Akihiko though he could feel his face raising a small amount in temperature.

“Thanks Yukari… Hey, wait, what do you mean ‘actually’?”

The girl started to laugh as she turned back around and headed towards the cash register. Akihiko followed behind her trying to get a word in edgewise.

~ ~

“Hello, welcome!”

An older woman greeted Shinjiro as he entered the small shop. The shop showed its age in the old wooden walls that had probably seen better days. _At least the place can hold in some heat and it’s not just freezing._

The woman greeted someone else and Shinjiro glanced to see who else would have entered the shop. Counting his secret santa was a dog he wasn’t expecting anyone else from their group to come in after him.

“Oh, Aragaki- senpai, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“I should say the same thing to you Ken. Wha’da’ya doin’ in a place like this?”

“Well to be truthful I saw you come in here so I followed you…Sorry.”

“No need to apologize for that kid. Feel free to stick around if you so choose but I’m not the most interestin’ guy to hang out with.”

“Well even if you claim to be un-interesting I do know that you tend to be quieter and honestly that’s what I would prefer.”

“What, is our leader not quite enough for ya? That kid barely talks.”

“I- I don’t know him very well so I would feel rather awkward accompanying him on his shopping. And while I could have gone with Koro and Aigis I saw they them heading in the same direction as Junpei-san so I thought it best not to go with them.”

“So you know me better then? Ah whatever, like I said, I’m not bothered by you tagging along if you wanna. I already know what I’m gonna get here so I’ll be out pretty quick.”

Shinjiro made a bee-line for the left side of the store and Ken slightly struggled to keep up with the older boy’s long strides. Shinjiro seemed to be cognizant of that because he started to take shorter steps in order for Ken to keep up.

The two stopped in front of a display rack packed with different kinds of accessories for dogs of varying sizes and colors.

“You have Koro-chan as your secret santa? I’m sure he’ll be ecstatic.”

“For sure. Also aren’t you in charge of whatever gift you’re going to be buying for his secret santa?”

“Yes however Mitsuru-senpai seems to have forgotten to give me the money to do so so I’m not entirely sure what to do.”

“Oh shit I completely forgot”

Ken looked at Shinjiro with an inquiring look. “Is something the matter?”

Shinjiro undid the top button of his pea coat and dug around in one of the inside pockets before finding what he was looking for. He buttoned his coat back up and then turned to Ken.

“See Mitsuru gave me this envelope this mornin’ and I was suppost to give it to you soon as I saw you but after we all split up I totally forgot so here, Koro’s spending money.”

Ken took the envelope.

“Thank you Aragaki-senpai…”

Ken’s voice trailed off and it seemed like something was obviously bothering him. Shinjiro decided that it wasn’t right to simply ignore whatever it was and play it off like he didn’t notice.

“You ok? If you need to talk feel free to.”

“Oh! No, no, it’s nothing like that mostly. I’m just not sure on how to go about going and buying gifts for the two people I need to.”

“Well I can probably give you some basic advice at minimum…”

“I need to purchase some gifts for Akihiko- senpai and Mitsuru-senpai…”

“Wow, lucky boy getting both of the senpai’s.”

“But you’re a senpai too senpai…”

“Heh, I don’t really think I’m a good enough of an influence to be counted as one but thanks. Also be sure to mention to Mitsuru during all the exchange pleasantries that she essentially bought her own gift I think she’ll get a good laugh out of it.”

A small smile had come on Ken’s face and he nodded seeming to get a little more excited to go gift shopping. Shinjiro accompanied him to where he wanted to go and assisted a little when it came to the two gifts.

“Look even if they’re not super enthralled then don’t worry about it.” It wasn’t the best advice Shinjiro could offer to help the kid from not worrying but he wasn’t sure what other advice he could give that wasn’t just sugarcoated.

“Uh… Aragaki-senpai, thank you for helping me with these… I really hope they like them.”

“It’s not a problem.”

Ken didn’t seem as nervous around him as when he had first come back to the dorm and Shinjiro was glad. He didn’t really like seeming him so skiddish.

~ ~

12/23 ° Fr  
Afternoon

Shinjiro and Ken had been the last ones to come back from their Christmas shopping. No one was in the sitting area when they arrived so the two went up to their respective rooms.

_S’nice to be back home after being out for a few hours.._.

“Home”. It was a word that sounded strange coming out of Shinjiro’s mouth. The closest thing he had to a home really was this place no matter how he looked at it.

The boy sighed and pushed the somber line of thinking out of his head as he removed his outdoor clothes. He removed his boots and tucked them underneath his bed frame. He then unbuttoned his pea coat and laid it down on the bed. He took off his beanie and ruffled his brunet hair with both hands. A yawn racked his body and he fell back onto his bed now looking up at his blank ceiling.

_13 years in a few days, eh? How the hell has my body kept up this long? Between my medication and Tartarus and the streets my sad ass should’ve shown up on the evening news at this point, ‘specially with how Strega can be…_

Shinjiro rolled over onto his right side so that he faced the blank wall that matched the ceiling.

_Should I get him a gift? Would he let me live it down if I did?_

He rolled over onto his left side and was now looking at the door.

_Even if I wanted to what the hell should I get him?_

“Ah this is stupid.”

Shinjiro sat back up and then stood, smoothing down his hair a little. Even if the straightforward method wasn’t his favorite it always produced results for him. Asking Akihiko straight up what he wanted was Shinjiro’s best plan of action if he had any hopes in getting a half-decent present for his friend.

Two solid knocks on his door made Akihiko pause the music he had been listening to. He got up from his desk and opened the door. Shinjiro was standing in the doorway. He looked a little odd since he wasn’t wearing his beanie but Akihiko didn’t comment about it and instead let him. Shinjiro quickly took a seat on the edge of Akihiko’s bed and Akihiko took back his chair spinning it so that he faced Shinjiro.

“So, what can I do you for?”

Shinjiro let his gaze wander around Akihiko’s room, counting every trophy he could see before finally finding his voice.

“Well I was wondering…if…”

Shinjiro’s inquiry trailed off and Akihiko was left sitting and waiting for him to finish his thought. “What’s the matter Shinji? You’re not the kind of guy to be nervous about something.”

“Tch, don’t rush me moron.”

“Sorry man, I didn’t realize this was gonna be such a serious question…”

“I-its n-... Ah, shit. Look, Aki I was wondering what…” Shinjiro’s thoughts faltered and he suddenly started a completely different question than what he had wanted to originally. “Should I cook some kind of Christmas eve dinner?”

Akihiko looked taken aback. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair which leaned back with him.

“Well, knowing your amazing cooking skills I don’t see why not. But I mean if it’s not something you’re up to I’m sure-“

“Hey! I never said that! I just… wasn’t sure if it was a good idea…”

“When has ANYONE turned down your cooking Shinji?”

The other boy rubbed his eyes with one of his hands and stayed quiet.

“My point, so then what’s the issue?”

Shinjiro stayed silent because he knew exactly what the issue was, he couldn’t get his damn thoughts together and just straight up ask Akihiko what he wanted for Christmas.

“Nothing. Sorry.”

Shinjiro quickly got up from his seat and made it to Akihiko’s door in two and half strides.

“Hold up a sec’ Shinji. Do you even have a plan for cooking dinner?”

“Nah, I’ll just make it up when I go grocery shopping.”

“You want me to come along and help you out?”

“Only if you want to. Also… don’t… mention this to anyone. If word gets around then requests will start gettin’ thrown my way and I don’t particularly want to do a buffet style dinner…”

“I figured.”

“Alright… then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow…”

Shinjiro opened and closed the door before he allowed Akihiko to ask any more questions. When he got back into his room the first thing he did was tug hard on his right ear.

“God why am I such a damn fool. It’s not that hard to just ask ‘im what he wants! And now not only do I have to cook for this whole freaking dorm I gotta find time to get him a gift too…”

Shinjiro walked over to one of the windows and pulled back the curtain a bit. The sun was still out but it was going to start setting in around an hour.

“Well if I’m gonna go now’s as good a time as any…”

Shinjiro put back on his coat, hat and shoes and paused as he was about to exit his room walking back over to his closet. He opened it and pulled out the shoe box that was on the floor and tucked the box under his arm before closing the door and exiting the dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and character study thing part 2   
> also forgive me for Shinji's speech pattern. I really couldn't decide between a weird broken/country thing and like a regular speech pattern ^^;


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 21070 yen ~ 175 US dollars  
> 6020 yen ~ 50 US dollars

“Hello and welcome to Shinshoudo Antiques. What can I do for you today?”

“Oh I’m just kinda looking for right now… Thanks.”

For as small of a shop it was, the antique shop was filled to the brim with random trinkets, furniture and knick-knacks of all kinds. The woman that greeted him gave off an air of grumpiness that told Shinjiro that she wanted to leave right now.

_Even though Koro-chan’s gift wasn’t super expensive I still don’t have a whole lot of left over money to spend on Aki’s gift… Hopefully the crap in here will help cover any deficit that may come up. Honestly will this place have something like I’m looking for…?_

Shinjiro walked back towards the counter where the owner was studying something intensely. When she heard the boy’s approaching footsteps she looked up and gave a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah… what do you guys have when it comes to jewelry…?”

“Depends on what you’re in the market for. We have bracelets, necklaces, rings and other stuff to help make you feel more powerful whenever you wear them.”

“Oh yeah? You have ones that make you feel tougher?”

The woman nodded and she got up from the chair she had previously been sitting in leading Shinjiro over to a glass case that housed the shining artifacts in question.

Everything glittered underneath the harsh artificial lighting of the case. The top shelf was devoted solely to rings with different gemstones imbedded in them. The second and third had various bracelets made of different materials all displayed. Some of them had small jewels housed in them and some were just simple bangles others had intricate patterns etched into the metal. The last two shelves had necklaces and chains of materials similar to the bracelets.

“Don’t you guys just have some plain ol’ necklace chains?”

“We have a few at the moment but more often than not we don’t. Most people who bring me necklaces are more interested in the price of the jewel on the end of them rather than the chain that is holding the jewel.”

The woman opened the glass door that housed the necklaces and pulled out a black velvet tray that had chains of silver and gold. A silver chain looked like an outcast amongst all the shining golden chains and it quickly caught Shinjiro’s eye.

“What’s this silver one here like?”

“An excellent choice, sir. This one is 75 centimeters made of sterling silver with a width of 6 millimeters and a lobster clasp.”

“Interesting… And what’s the price attached to it?”

“21,070 yen.”

“Woah! That’s… expensive…”

“Do you have the funds to pay for it?”

The question had a subtly aggressive tone that Shinjiro picked up on.

“Getting right down to business are we? Well, how about you take a look at what I got and we can arrange a trade, yeah?”

“We shall see.”

The woman took the case with her as the two walked back to her desk. She sat down in her chair and Shinjiro set the shoebox down in front of her. She opened it and Shinjiro heard the small exhale from her initial reaction. An array of colorful gemstones laid haphazardly in the small box.

_That sounds like a good sign… Maybe those Tartarus trips are worth more than just some training._

She pulled out the gems one at a time, weighing each one in her hand and inspecting it.

After she had emptied out the box she began to put select things back in and leaving others out on the counter.

“Well, if what you have provided me is indeed genuine than a trade should be sufficient so long as you also have some cash to pay the difference.

“Difference? Lady these things are literal gems. Either you think that necklace is worth a lot more than it really is or you’re a god damn rip off and under evaluating all this shit I brought to you.”

“I’m sorry sir but unless you want to allow me more time to give a real and thorough investigation rather than just a surface level pass over then you would need to give me a few days.”

“Well I don’t have a few days to give you. I have one day.”

“In that case then you can take all this back and try another place.”

“B-But… you’re the only one in town that will take this stuff!”

“Then maybe you should consider getting some more money before you come back.”

Her uncaring disposition was starting to get to Shinjiro. He could feel his arms prickling with aggravation and he hadn’t noticed how hard he was clenching his left hand.

“Alright, alright. Hold on… Can we work somethin’ out? Like a payment plan or something?”

The woman shook her head and switched her crossed legs.

“I’m sorry but I have a strict all or nothing payment policy.”

“So then take that whole box and tell me how much left I have to pay!”

“Taking the whole box will still short you around 6,020 yen.”

“Shit, for real?”

The woman nodded and Shinjiro shook his fist. “Damn.”

“As I’ve said, if you can come up with the remaining deficient, then we can go through with this exchange.”

“But I don’t have that kind of cash…”

Shinjiro pulled out his wallet and looked at the bills inside.

_I can’t use these if I’m gonna go grocery shopping with Aki… Damn… I think I’m boned…_

“It seems to me that at the moment you lack insufficient funds and time. I think you should come back later when you have a little more of both.”

“W-Wait…There’s gotta be SOMETHING in that box that’s worth another 6000 yen!”

“There’s a possibility but I would need more time.”

Shinjiro was ready to scream. The conversation was making no headway and he knew that trying to haggle would be worthless at this point since all his cards were on the table. He let out a sigh and put his hands in his coat pockets. His right knuckles brushed against something in his pocket.

_No way. No freaking way._

Shinjiro pulled out his pocket watch and held it in his hand.

“Would this work? Would this cover the rest? I don’t have any cash I can spend…”

Shinjiro held out the watch to her and she took it in her hand. She flipped it over and over giving it a quick inspection. She clicked it open and looked at the clock face for a moment before shutting it and looking back to Shinjiro.

“It would only just cover the gap.”

“Then take it and give me that necklace.”

“Are you sure, sir?”

“Positive.”

The woman looked at Shinjiro’s eyes, looking for any hesitation or regret. He must have done a good enough job to mask it because she put the watch and all the gems on the counter into the shoe box.

“Alright then. Would you like this necklace boxed?”

“Depends, ‘s’that gonna cost me more?”

“No sir, all gift boxing is complementary.”

“Then yeah, go for it…”

“Excellent choice.”

~ ~ ~

12/23 ° Fr  
Evening

The whole walk back to the dorm had been a period of heavy reflection for Shinjiro. He kept opening and closing the box that the chain was in. He knew getting a necklace for Akihiko was the right choice but he wasn’t sure if the method for procuring it was sound. _In the heat of the moment I didn’t even consider what I was doing… Well… hopefully it’s worth it in the end. ‘Guess I invariably saved Aki some money since he won’t have to buy me a chain for that watch ‘nymore_

“Hey, look who’s finally back.”

Shinjiro closed the door behind him and then faced the voice. Akihiko, Junpei, Aigis and Yukari were all congregated on varying sofas and chairs watching Shinjiro as he came in. Junpei was sitting on the sofa opposite the door so his full upper body was twisted in order to face Shinjiro.

“Hey what’s that you got in your hand senpai?”

Shinjiro hadn’t realized it but he had taken the box back out and hadn’t put it in his pocket like he should have. He knew he couldn’t talk his way out of it so he decided the casual route was the best way to avert suspicion especially since the intended receiver was sitting there looking at him.

“Oh this? Nothin’ important. Just something I picked up on the way back from my extra shopping.”

“Extra shopping huh? Then where are all the bags?”

“Hey Stupei, why don’t you lay off senpai? He just got back after all.”

“But aren’t you curious too Yuka-tan? By the look of it, it’s a jewelry box! You aren’t curious to know what’s inside. Or better yet, who its recipient is?”

“Shinjiro-san, I am noticing a slight increase of your internal body temperature, are you feeling ok? I hope that you are not catching a cold because of the weather.”

There probably was a flush on Shinjiro’s face but he didn’t have any idea at the moment and just wanted to get out of the situation as quickly as he could. His brain kicked into overdrive and an idea quickly came to fruition.

“Hey Aki, could you come with me? I need to chat with you.”

The heated whispers being exchanged between Junpei and Yukari came to an abrupt end at the sound of the question and both of them along with Aigis all turned their gaze to Akihiko who looked like a lost animal in that instant.

“Uh… why? Can’t you just talk to me right now?”

“No you idiot. It’s about that… THING I asked you about before I left earlier.”

“Oh! You mean Christmas eve din-”

“Idiot! What does ‘not tell anyone’ mean in that brain of yours!?”

Yukari and Junpei’s eyes lit up.

“Shinjiro-senpai you’re REALLY going to make us dinner!?”

Shinjiro let out a heavy sigh, stuffing his hands as deep as he could into his jacket pockets.

“Well at this point seems like I don’t have a choice since Aki just blabbed about it…”

“Sorry Shinji…”

Shinjiro simply shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “Whatever. I’ll be in my room if we decide to go to Tartarus tonight.”

With that Shinjiro began walking towards the stairs completely ignoring the bombardment of questions about dinner coming from Yukari and Junpei.

“Is Shinjiro-san ok Akihiko-san? Did I upset him?”

“No Aigis, I think I did. I’m gonna go talk to him…”

Akihiko stood up and went up the stairs making a bee-line for Shinjiro’s room. He knocked but didn’t receive an answer or even a sound to let him know he could come in. He tried the doorknob but found that Shinjiro had locked it.

“Oi, Shinji let me in.”

Still no answer and Akihiko pounded roughly on the door.

“Come on Shinji...”

He tried the doorknob again but it was absolutely still locked. He pressed his right ear to the door listening for any signs of movement but nothing stirred within the room.

“Shinij I’m really sorry about what happened downstairs… How can I make it up to you? I can pay for your ingredients and I can help you prep everything too if you want…!”

There wasn’t much noise upstairs so when Akihiko heard the sound of shuffling coming from Shinjiro’s room his heart began to beat a little faster. He heard the lock be undone and Shinjiro’s cold gaze came from around the door.

“I’m gonna hold you to that. I’m gonna hold you to both of those things actually.”

“Of course! Uh… apology accepted?”

Shinjiro’s face soften by a good margin his lips turning up in a very small smile. “Yeah.”

Akihiko also smiled, his being a lot bigger. “Thank you Shinji!” He pushed the door open and caught Shinji off guard with a tight hug.

“W-What’s your deal? This isn’t the first time we’ve fought ya know.”

“I know-” Akihiko detached himself and took a step back, “but with Christmas and new year being so close I didn’t want it all to get soured by a stupid spat…”

“Good to know you recognize that however it doesn’t change the fact that I am now 100% committed to making a dinner for 9 people and absolutely no plan.”

“What happened to your whole ‘make it up as I go’ plan Shinji?”

“Well I wasn’t actually planning on this happening!”

“You want me to come in so that we can work on it a little?”

Shinjiro stayed silent for a moment as he contemplated the offer. While the help was certainly appreciated it felt weird that Akihiko essentially invited himself into his room.

“Y-Yeah, we can do a little planning… I mean if nothing else then at least get a main course recipe figured out.”

Shinjiro swung the door wider than it had been when Akihiko pushed it and the other boy entered the room.


	6. Chapter 6

12/24 ° Sa  
Daytime

“Thank you! Have a good day!”

Shinjiro and Akihiko both thanked the cashier back as they exited the market. Both were carrying two or three bags of groceries each.

“So Aki, did I break the bank?”

Akihiko shook his head, “Not really. If you had went for more expensive ingredients and like super organic veggies you may have come close but for how much stuff we had to buy I would say I didn’t spend too much.”

“Good to hear. Now let’s get goin’. I want this chicken to marinade for at least 3 or 4 hours before it gets cooked.”

“’ve never seen you so fired up before Shinji! Frankly, it’s getting me pumped too!”

“Heh, well we’ll see how long that energy lasts Aki. Knowing you once we go through the dorm entry way you’re just gonna go pass out on the couch and wake up the moment dinner hits the table.”

“Hey! I said I would help you and I’m gonna keep that promise yah know! So don’t count me out just yet Shinji!”

The two continued to back and forth friendly banter as they made the walk back to the dorm. It was mid-morning and with the sun not at its peak the weather was a comfortable coolness that Akihiko always craved this time of year. You stayed warm so long as you kept moving but if you did have to take a pause the cold wouldn’t immediately start turning your extremities pink.

As they walked Akihiko did some half-baked window shopping. He still needed to get Shinjiro a Christmas gift and he was quickly running out of time to do so seeing as he had to help with dinner prep.

_Maybe if I quicken the pace back and be extra diligent I can slip back out to go get him a gift._

“Oi! AKI!”

Things began to blur together. Akihiko felt a tight grip on the back of his shirt, he could hear screeching of tires and a horn from somewhere in the distance and he felt his body weightlessly topple backwards from a harsh tug. He hadn’t realized but they had come up to a busy intersection and his brain didn’t even register that he had to wait his turn to cross. A red car was driving past them, aggravated obscenities being thrown at them from the driver’s side window. Shinjiro ignored them, his eyes were quickly darting back and forth over Akihiko trying to look for anything inherently damaged from the ordeal.

“What the hell man? Where’d you go? You could’ve gotten really hurt!”

Akihiko was struggling for words and still a little shaken. “S-Sorry I-…I was-”

“Not paying attention? What the hell were you thinking about so hard that almost got you t-boned?”

Akihiko knew that telling Shinjiro about his contemplation over getting him a gift would be met with a tidal wave of disapproving words so tried to make something up on the fly.

“Well I was thinking since we didn’t pick up anything at the market for our dessert I was trying to figure out something we could just pick up on the way back to the dorm.”

It was a good lie and it seemed Shinjiro went ahead and bought it as he didn’t raise any further objections.

“Did’ja at least come up with somethin’?”

“I mean… who doesn’t love a good ‘ol fashinoned sponge-cake…right?”

“You mean to tell me that you almost got hit because you we’re thinking about sponge cake? I don’t believe it.”

Akihiko knew that if Shinjiro wasn’t currently holding bags of groceries that the other boy would have thrown up his hands in exasperation. Shinjiro let out a sigh and shook his head.

“Look, I’m just glad that I caught‘cha in time… I don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t…”

Shinjiro’s sentence trailed off and Akihiko contemplated the idea. Being hit by a car on Christmas Eve, right in front of his best friend, simply because he was trying to figure out a Christmas gift for said friend. He could almost laugh at the thought if his stomach wasn’t still in a tight knot.

“Come on, let’s just get back to the dorm in one piece. I’ll let you skip out on dinner help if you’re not feeling up to it.”

It was the third or fourth out Shinjiro offered to Akihiko and he was beginning to feel more like Shinjiro didn’t want him to help at all. I _know that’s not the case however this out does offer me a chance to slip out and getting a gift… And I can use that dessert lie as my excuse as to why I’m leaving again! Brilliant!_

“U-Uh… yeah, I may take you up on that Shinji… I know you said you we’re going to hold my helping you to me but-“

“Don’t worry about it Aki, just take it easy for a while and when you feel up to it just come step in the kitchen and help out. ‘Sides, even if it’s not ‘dinner help’ setting the table for everyone is more than anything the others will probably do.”

“Thanks Shinji… Like I said I’m really sorry…”

The two walked back to the dorm with light conversation enveloping the air around them.

~

12/22 ° Sa  
Afternoon

Akihiko had waited until Shinjiro went into full on chef mode before slipping back out into the chill. He had an idea of where to start his shopping and had made the walk over to Paulownia mall. He knew that it was one of the few places in town that sold jewelry. From the moment he had walked in the woman in charge of the shop wasn’t all too friendly to him. Not offering him any sort of greeting when he first entered and barely lifting a finger when it came to helping him. She was thoroughly engrossed in a shoebox filled with things that obviously interested her more than his business. He did walk out of the store with a giftbox for Shinjiro however and that’s all that mattered to him.

_You know… while I’m here… Maybe I should check out Chagall and see what kinda desserts they got… Maybe they still have some stuff this early in the afternoon._

“Akihiko? What are you doing here?”

The firm voice was very familiar to the boy but he was confused as to why they were here.

“Mitsuru? I thought Kirijo still needed you…”

Mitsuru shook her head, the long curl of hair on resting over her shoulder swaying with the motion. She had a paper sack with a large white box inside of it. There also seemed to be a smaller bag as well.

“It seems that everyone there was determined to get home early this year as they were greatly ahead of schedule. When I arrived there were only a small amount of housekeeping duties I had to look over. Anything else could either be completed later on or at an individual basis. Seeing as they didn’t need me I decided to come back for Christmas Eve pleasantries… However as you see I am doing my shopping now, shameful I admit.”

“Hey, no judgement from me seeing as I just got a gift for someone today as well. Anyway, you wanna come and pick out dessert with me? Shinji’s at home cookin’ right now so I’m not a hundred percent on what I wanna get for everyone. I told Shinji earlier that everyone loves sponge cake but I got to thinking about it and sponge cake just feels a little over done, yeah?”

“Shinjiro is cooking? How delightful… I would tend to agree with you, sponge cake could easily be considered overdone however with time being of the essence I believe the better option would be to simply go with what we know is acceptable and tasty and save the adventurous desserts for New Year’s. Besides, I’m sure Chagall’s quality of cakes will be of higher quality than if we stopped at the super market.”

“Yeah… you’re probably right Mitsuru…”

The two had been standing in front of the dessert case for a while but the worker behind was smiling widely, patiently waiting for them to pick out what they wanted.

“Do you guys have any more Christmas cakes for sale right now? I know that it’s really short notice…”

The girl nodded her head, “We do have a few left! You two are a very lucky couple.”

“O-Oh, we’re not-

”Then please box one up for us!” Mitsuru took a step towards the counter the comment not fazing her. The worker didn’t seem to hear the start of Akihiko’s correction and walked through a door that presumably led to their kitchen. Akihiko stayed silent for the rest of the time they were in Chagall. Mitsuru had paid for the cake and they exited the store and started to exit the mall.

“Akihiko, did that comment about us being a couple really bother you that much? You haven’t spoken a word since then.”

“Yeah… it’s just hard to picture you as anything beyond a combat partner and close classmate…Sorry.”

“Why apologize? I hardly take offense. I understand that we are both put under a lot of stress to not only excel in school and extracurriculars but also find a life partner. To be honest with you I harbor similar feelings. Because of everything that has happened… the Dark Hour and Tartarus I’m not positive I could step up into a relationship at the moment.”

There was a lull in the conversation and Mitsuru had taken the lead and she led them to where her bike was parked. She put her key into the ignition and started to put on her gloves.

“Hey Mitsuru…” She paused and faced Akihiko whose gaze was off in the distance.

“Yes Akihiko?”

“I’m scared.”

Akihiko's normal relaxed posture had been replaced by a stiffness that reached his face which looked tight with suppressed emotions. She stayed quiet and allowed him to bring his thoughts together.

“I’m really worried about Shinji…”

“Why is that? He’s in the dorm with us, he isn’t out on the streets anymore. Isn’t that why you always went to go see him?”

“It’s not that. I’m… worried that something is going to happen to him any day now…

“How long have you been harboring this stress Akihiko?”

“It’s been nagging at the back of my brain ever since we brought Ken on and Shinji came back. It’s weird, when Shinji was on the streets I worried about him and visited him, but I never felt this stressed about it when it was going on. I know he’s safer now but I just can’t shake this feeling.”

Akihiko let out a sad chuckle that only amplified the pained expression on his face.

“Akihiko, you know I always keep close eyes on everyone in the dorm. Not just for monitoring purposes but also because I feel as if I’m the one who has to take care of them even if my way of showing it is… obtuse.”

“I guess.”

He was obviously unconvinced but Mitsuru wasn’t sure what else she could say to ease whatever burden he was holding. She decided that it was better to let the subject dissolve into the melting snowflakes rather than try and dissect it.

“Let’s hurry back to the dorm… I’m sure Shinjiro could use an extra set of hands.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry.”

“Once again, you have no need to apologize about anything.”

“Thanks Mitsuru… Also I just realized you paid for the Christmas cake… That was rude of me to not pay for it…”

“Consider it my contribution to the Christmas delights as one of the senpai of the dorm… I won’t be able to hold that title for too much longer you know.”

“For sure.”

“Would you like to ride passenger and not walk back? I don’t have a helmet to offer you however.”

“Nah, I’ll hoof it. I wouldn’t want our cake to get battered from the ride. Besides I can take your bags as well so they don’t get damaged.”

“That’s very kind of you Akihiko but I’ll handle my own bags. I’ll see you back at the dorm in that case.”

~

When Akihiko returned he found a newly sculpted snowman greeting him at the base of the stairs to the dorm. He seemed to be wearing Junpei’s baseball cap and Akihiko’s gloves and scarf?

“Hey! Where the hell did they get those from?”

Akihiko opened the door but the bitterness about his things being used was quickly forgotten as he was overtaken by the amazing smells drifting out of the kitchen.

“Hey Shinji! I’m back!”

“Back? Whad’a’ya mean ‘back’?”

Shinjiro’s gruff voice easily carried from the kitchen.

“I went to the mall to go get a cake for us. And I saw Mitsuru while I was there. She had to take her bike back here so I walked.”

Akihiko entered the kitchen. Shinjiro looked at ease in the kitchen. His shoulders seemed more relaxed and when he looked to Akihiko he had a small smile playing at his lips.

“I thought I heard the front door opening and closing. Guess that was her slipping in. Anyway, let me see the cake you got.”

Akihiko placed the plastic bag down on the counter and opened the white box that held the cake. Shinjiro looked it over for a moment and seemed pleased at Akihiko- or rather- Mitsuru’s choice of cake.

“Looks beautiful. Now put that bad boy in the fridge.”

Akihiko did as he was instructed and his stomach started to growl when he smelled the marinade that the chicken had been sitting in for at least a few hours at this point.

“Are you going to have enough chicken to cover the fact that Mitsuru’s here now? Also have you not left the kitchen since we got back Shinji?”

“I left to go put my hair up and change into looser clothes but outside of that I’ve been here. I made sure to buy excess chicken for dinner since I know you and Junpei both eat like wild animals. Now that she’s here you’ll just have to cut back your serving of chicken.

“I would have expected someone to come in here at some point and at least OFFER their help.”

Shinjiro shook his head, “Nah, ‘s’just been me and my cutting board.”

They both could hear footsteps coming down the stairs. A few seconds later Mitsuru pushed open the kitchen door. Her hair looked damp from a shower and her clothes were much less formal than what she usually chose.

“Welcome back Mitsuru. Kirijo treat you well I hope.”

“Of course Shinjiro, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Akihiko informed me that you went ahead with dinner plans for the dorm.”

“Yeah, the loser blabbed about it in front of a few of ‘em so I figured why not. ‘Sides if nothin’ else it’ll shut ‘em up for a few months.”

Akihiko felt his face get a little warmer and Mitsuru let out a light giggle, “An interesting motive but I’m in no position to argue seeing as I’m also excited to partake in your cooking. Don’t let me disturb you. I merely came down to say hello and grab a drink before going back to my room.”

“Alright, I’ll make sure someone goes and grabs you before food hits the table.”

“Much appreciated Shinjiro.”

Mitsuru opened the fridge and she too felt her stomach rumble a little when she caught a whiff of the marinade. She grabbed what she wanted to drink and left the kitchen her footsteps echoing off the stairs.

Akihiko was hovering near the counter that was next to the fridge watching Shinjiro’s muscular back hunched over his cutting board.

“You have anything you need me to do Shinji?”

“No, I got everything handled. I’ll come fetch you when it’s getting close to time…”

“’k.”

Akihiko felt a heaviness in his body he hadn’t really realized before. He wasn’t sure if it was that aforementioned stress rearing its ugly head or if he was just tired from having such a busy day. Either way he knew his main priority was to get in a quick nap before dinner. He decided that his bed was just a little too far to bother with and if Shinjiro needed him for something he could just come and wake him up on the couch.

Akihiko sat down and took off his shoes before laying down fully. It didn’t take him long to get comfortable and he was fast asleep with the smells of the kitchen intertwining with his dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Mitsuru tends to address pretty much everyone by last name aside from Akihiko but honestly in my head I feel like all the senpai's just call each other by their first names...*shrugs*


	7. Chapter 7

12/24 ° Sa  
Evening

Shinjiro could hear Akihiko’s familiar snoring coming from the living room. The other boy had been passed out for at least 2 hours and dinner was fast approaching. Shinjiro felt a little bad having to wake him up from such a good sleep but he did say he would get him when it was almost time. He was ready to start frying the chicken and that would only take 10 or 15 minutes to do so he turned on the stove and let the oil start warming.

Akihiko’s right arm was dangling off the side of the sofa and his left arm was draped across his chest. He looked serene.

“Oi, Aki. I need you up now. It’s almost time for dinner and you’re in charge of setting the table and stuff.”

Akihiko stirred and let out a heavy sigh as he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Gotcha. Be there in just a ‘sec.”

“Before you set the table go and knock on everyone’s doors and get their asses downstairs. I don’t want no one late to this dinner.”

“Yeah.”

Akihiko’s brain was obviously still in dreamland but he seemed to be getting Shinjiro’s orders because he got up and started to make his way to the stairs, a little slow-going for Shinjiro’s taste.

~

The dorm never got an official Christmas tree so there wasn’t a formal place to put the gifts so instead they all wound up in a jumbled mess on the large coffee table in the seating area. Everyone was buzzing with excitement not only for dinner but also for the exchange. The sound of crackling oil came from the kitchen and the smell of frying chicken floated throughout the whole dorm. Ken, Koromaru and Junpei were gathered on one of the sofas trying to figure out which gift was given by whom. Aigis was sitting in one of the chairs, Fuuka, Mitsuru and Yukari were all seated on the other sofa and their leader was sat in the other chair across the table from Aigis. Akihiko was flittering around the dinner table furiously laying down plates, silverware and glasses but only appeared to be halfway done. Shinjiro was still in the kitchen cranking out the rest of the dinner.

“Hey Aki! Is that table set yet!?”

“I’m workin’ on it Shinji! Have some patience why don’cha!”

Yukari looked to her right where Mitsuru was sitting. “Hasn’t it been a while since we’ve all been together like this? I feel like I’m part of this weird mish-mash of a family…”

“It’s nice isn’t it? I’ll miss this. This relaxed and friendly atmosphere…”

“Don’t think about it like that Mitsuru-senpai. For now we should just enjoy each other’s company and Shinjiro-senpai’s wonderful cooking.”

“You’re right Yamagishi… Iori, what do you think you’re doing?”

Junpei had picked up one of the wrapped packages and froze when Mitsuru called him out. He let out a nervous laugh and set the package back down on the pile looking sheepish.

“Watch yourself or else.”

The ‘else’ plainly implied an execution by Mitsuru’s hand but Junpei wasn’t a fool and got the message.

“Does anyone know what Shinjiro-san is making for us? I am detecting hints of ginger, garlic, and mirin coming from the kitchen.”

Ken looked at Aigis, “I think its karaage chicken Aigis. My mom would make it for me on occasion.”

“Aki! Can you get in here for a sec?”

Akihiko set down the silverware in his hand and strode in the kitchen. Shinjiro had rolled up the sleeves of the loose long-sleeve shirt he was wearing and beads of sweat were accumulating around his temples.

“Bring me that big platter over there.”

Shinjiro was always a stickler for presentation so it always amazed Akihiko at the dishes he would dig up from the depths of the dorm cabinets. Most of it was probably just hand-me-downs from Mitsuru’s ‘private’ collection from her estate but they were still immaculate.

The platter Shinjiro was asking for was a large oval platter with a hand painted image of the Japanese country side with Mount Fuji just barely noticeable on the horizon.

“Start transferring some of this chicken and then grab me some clean paper towels since these ones are over saturated.”

A timer started going off and Shinjiro set down his chopsticks and grabbed a pair of hotpads that were resting nearby. He opened up the oven and produced a red casserole dish that contained a bunch of small, steaming potatoes.

“Potatoes?”

“Yep. Found ‘em just sitting in the pantry. I think Fuuka bought ‘em a while back when she was on her cooking kick and then just forgot about them. They looked good to cook and we needed one last thing with this dinner so I figured it’s hard to go wrong with oven baked rather than mashed. Now, could you please get that chicken off the plate for me?”

“Right, sorry!”

“Hey! Mitsuru! Can you come ‘ere!”

She appeared soon after the call. “Do you need my assistance?”

“Yeah, take out the salad and finish setting whatever Aki didn’t get. If everyone wants to start their salads they’re welcome to. All the chicken is just about cooked I only need to get the rest of it out of the pan and draining.”

There was a large textured glass bowl overflowing with salad and a pair of tongs resting next to it. Mitsuru took the bowl and left the kitchen the buzzing rising in volume for a moment and the sound of a small stampede going to the table could be heard in response.

Akihiko had changed out the paper towels and moved the chicken onto the tray like Shinjiro instructed him to. Everything was coming together smoothly and Shinjiro was so pleased by this. His final pieces of chicken were beginning to quiet down in the oil which alerted him to them being done. He pulled them out of the pan and placed them down on the paper towels. He turned off the stove and began to dab at the piece of chicken.

“I would’ve let ‘em drain on their own time but if we’re gonna get everything out at the same time then I’m just gonna have to de-grease them by hand but I don’t think anyone will really know the difference when all this stuff hits their mouth…”

He moved the rest of the pieces onto the platter and gave it one last look over for anything that may not be right. He didn’t see anything and looked to Akihiko.

“Grab those hot pads and carry out the potatoes. I’ll follow behind you with the chicken.”

Akihiko nodded and did as he was instructed and the two exited the kitchen. He heard someone whooping as he approached the table, Junpei being the main suspect. He set down the dish right onto the table but he heard a noise from Shinjiro telling him that wasn’t the right move on his part. He had set down the tray of chicken and was walking over to where Akihiko was.

“Take off those hot pads and be ready.”

Akihiko wasn’t sure what was happening but he tensed his body. Shinjiro grabbed the handles of the dish but he didn’t let out a peep to show that the heat was bothering him.

“Alright, put down those hotpads.”

Akihiko set them down and Shinjiro placed the dish on top of them.

“Good teamwork you two, now come and take your places.”

There was one spot at the head of the table and the seat to its left were open.

“Shinji, you should take the head of the table. You did all of this after all.”

The boy seemed sheepish taking such a prestigious seat since usually it was only Mitsuru who sat at the head of the table but this evening her chair wasn’t at the other end.

“W-Well… Dig in I guess.”

Food was quickly passed up and down the table and everyone got their share, including Koromaru who had been made his own piece without any breading or seasoning. Everyone let out sounds of pleasure as they dug in each giving various compliments to Shinjiro who could only blush and keep his gaze down on his plate.

“Hey Shinji, good work. This is probably one of the best ones yet.”

Akihiko’s voice was low and his gaze was sincere, his soft eyes holding Shinjiro’s own eyes.

“T-Thanks Aki… ‘ppreciate it…”

~ ~ ~

Everyone’s various dinner dishes had been returned to the kitchen and everyone was now congregated on the sofas and chairs and everyone except for Akihiko was sporting a plate of cake.

“Who would like to open the first gift?”

Junpei quickly raised his hand which was still holding onto his fork. His mouth was stuffed with cake but he still managed to get out a ‘me’. He looked around in the pile before finding a small rectangular box with his name written on the sticker in a neat handwriting.

“Oh man, what could this be? I’m so excited!”

He set the plate down on the floor and eagerly stripped off the packaging and opened up the box he grabbed. He let out an audible gasp and an eager ‘ooo’ as he put the light blue baseball cap on. He dug around a little more and found a few chocolate bars amongst the stuffing paper. They were his favorite, the ones that had maccha infused so it didn’t make it TO sweet.

“Glad to see you dig that hat Junpei, couldn’t decide between that one and another one.”

Their leader spoke up and Junpei looked to him with a large smile. “No way man, I totally dig it. And since my other hat is being used right now I can wear this one for a while!”

“Hey, speaking of that snowman, why are my scarf and gloves out there?! I never told you guys you could use them!”

No one spoke up to claim it was their idea and it was quickly swept up as their leader picked up the cube package with his name. His name was written in characters to perfect to be human so he had a hunch who his gift was from. He ripped off the paper in one smooth motion. A stack of CDs sat in his lap. They were all from bands that he loved, some of them older some of them newer.

“I wasn’t exactly sure about your taste in music so I went through your MP3 played and compiled a general data file with classifications of the songs.”

Aigis had a please smile on her face and their leader smiled back. “Thanks Aigis. I’m going to put these on there as soon as I can… Why don’t you open your gift next?”

The girl eagerly took her two gifts from the pile. Fuuka became a tad stiffer once Aigis set them down on her lap. She was abnormally delicate when unwrapping the larger one and her eyes widened when she saw what it was.

The red gingham pattern on the scrapbook looked familiar to their leader and he smiled. Aigis opened up the scrapbook and a few packets of stickers were laying on top of a pad of colored construction paper. Aigis closed the book and unwrapped the second one. It was a small disposable camera.

“I know that you have memory systems to help you remember things but I thought this would be a little more… personal than just to archive all these things.”

“Fuuka-san I am over joyed. This is such a thoughtful package and I am very excited to begin making my own scrapbook.”

Aigis put the camera to her eye and pushed down on the button. A bright flash momentarily blinded everyone and Aigis had very please expression on her face when everyone’s vision returned to normal.

Koromaru was barking down by Aigis’s feet and she looked down at him. She nodded a few times before looking back to everyone.

“Koromaru-chan would like to open his gift next.”

It was one of the few gifts that hadn’t been wrapped in paper and instead was just neatly folded inside a large red ribbon. Aigis set it down in front of the Shiba and he quickly undid the bow and nuzzled at the fabric. Aigis picked it up and unfolded it a piece of paper floating down to the floor. The jacket was a simple grey color that wasn’t far off in color from Koromaru’s coat but the inside looked like a soft black polyester. Koromaru picked up the piece of paper and handed it Aigis who read it aloud.

“One homemade dinner of your choosing.”

Aigis didn’t recognize the heavy handed writing on the note but Koromaru seemed to recognize who his gifter was because he went over to Shinjiro and began pawing at his shins. Shinjiro picked up the dog and set him down on his lap ruffling his coat and Koromaru licked him on his cheek.

Yukari couldn’t hold back the ‘aww’ that escaped from her but Shinjiro let it slide. She decided that since she embarrassed him it was only fair to embarrass herself now. The package she picked up was a soft pastel pink but it was crudely wrapped and it seemed like the large amount of tape was still barely holding it all together. It took her a moment to get everything off but when she removed the wrapping a box from Croco Fur greeted her.

“Wow… seems a little rich blooded for a Christmas gift exchange. But then again I haven’t been since I was like 13 so maybe they’ve gotten more reasonable over the years. There was tape on the box as well but it was different from the tape on the outside of the box. She slid a finger between the gap and the tape easily broke. She opened the box and her gaze quickly snapped back up.

On a bed of deep green wrapping paper was a pair of white fluffy ear-muffs and knit white leg warmers. Junpei pulled down on the bill of his new cap.

“You like ‘em Yuka-tan? I had the sales associate he-“

Yukari threw her arms around him. “I love them Junpei! I can’t believe you actually listened to me about my taste in this kind of stuff! Thank you thank you thank you!” Yukari broke the side hug and Junpei’s wide smile got a little wider.

“Not a problem Yuka-tan!”

The girl took them out of the box and put on the ear muffs and Fuuka started lightly clapping. “You look so cute with those Yukari-chan! They fit you so well!”

“Why don’t you open your gift next Fuuka?”

The girl nodded and found her gift amongst the depleting pile. Hers was a gift bag rather than a box but she didn’t mind. She pulled away some of the tissue paper and pulled out a book. It was thick and had rather bland looking cover. “ _C++ and More”_ It was a coding book.

“I wasn’t sure what level you were at… Or if you had ever mess with code before so I kind of made the assumption you had…”

“Oh, it’s perfect Akihiko-senpai! I’ve had some minor experience but this is perfect for going more in depth and I’ve found its difficult learning about computer coding online so a book is best for me.” Fuuka looked around in the bag a little more and pulled out a piece of cardboard. On it was a 40 GB Jack Frost thumb drive.

“Wow Fuuka-chan, I have to admit, I’m a little jealous…”

“Well then, would you like to open your gift next Ken-kun? Maybe you got something even more amazing.” The boy nodded and picked up a rather large gift bag with his name on it. He was a little disappointed in the fact he wasn’t ripping open a present but the level of excitement he felt was large regardless of how his gift came packaged.

“Woah! No way! H-How is this… possible?”

There were two long rectangular boxes set back to back. They were of two different men in colorful costumes.

“How… how… These aren’t supposed to be out for another few months!”

“Woah! Those are those new Featherman R figures right? The ones that are supposed to go along with the movie comin’ out right?”

Junpei was obviously more informed about it than anyone else aside from Ken.

“On my way back from Kirijo I made a small stop at the production studio where these were being crafted. A little bird told me about how much you enjoy the Featherman series. These are actually only what you might call ‘beta models’. They aren’t the official figures that will be sold to the general public but Mr. Tezuka was more than pleased to give these to me since he had plenty of other copies to present to those that needed to see them. I hope you are ok with them…”

“Ok? Ok? I’m ecstatic Mitsuru-senpai! This is the best gift I’ve ever GOTTEN!”

Ken’s voice was cracking with emotion and he looked about ready to cry with joy.

“There’s one more thing in there for you…”

Ken pulled out more of the tissue paper and found a small white bag that didn’t cover the top of the tall metal canister it was covering. Ken could smell exactly what it was and his face lit up.

“Chagall coffee’s signature dark roast coffee beans? Mitsuru-senpai how did you know?”

“That same little bird from before.”

Ken’s lip was quivering and he was obviously struggling to hold back his tears. “I don’t think I could ever thank you enough Mitsuru-senpai… I- I love it all.”

“I’m delighted to hear that Amada. It’s the least I could do. Now then, why don’t I start off the senpai present unwrapping?”

The box that had Mitsuru’s name on it was small. Too large for jewelry but not large enough to be anything like shirts or jeans or the like. With the dwindling number of people who had announced who their secret santa was Mitsuru honestly couldn’t deduce who gave it to her. She undid the bow that was amateurishly wrapped around the box and pulled off the necessary strips of tape to get it undone.

The box in her lap didn’t have any distinct brand on the top and was a simple faux white alligator leather exterior. She pulled off the lid and was greeted by a pair of black leather gloves that reminded her of Akihiko’s own pair.

“Hey! Did someone steal my gloves again?”

“No Sanada-senpai but these gloves are made by the same company that make your gloves except these are specifically tailored to their female market. Koromaru was the one in charge of your gift but I had to buy it for him so really you indirectly bought yourself a new pair of gloves.”

“These are wonderful. I’ve never been the type to wear mittens so these will be perfect.” Mitsuru picked one up and slipped it on, the glove fitting just like, well, a glove. Mitsuru let out an approving laugh. “Good work you two.” She removed the glove and replaced it in the box and put the lid back on.

“Well then, all that’s left are you two.”

Akihiko and Shinjiro traded looks with each other and neither really made a move to pick up their gifts.

“If you two are just going to stare at each other lovingly then I’m gonna open your gifts for yah!”

“Hey Junpei that’s super rude. Let them open their own gifts.”

“You wanna open them at the same time Shinji?”

“Why not?”

They picked up their respective gifts and Shinjiro couldn’t help but feel slightly self-conscious at how much bigger his was in comparison to everyone else’s. They tore into their respective packages and both of their faces brightened, especially Shinjiro’s, even if he wouldn’t openly admit to it.

“Wow… this is a sweet knife set. Too bad I couldn’t use it with dinner tonight… Bet it would’ve made dinner even better than it was…”

Yukari had a huge grin on her face, very proud of her gift and how much Shinjiro seemed to like it.

Akihiko pulled out a long scarf that had a similar gingham pattern to Aigis’s scrapbook but his was a grey and black color pattern. It was fleecy and quite a bit softer than his usual red one. His other gift was a blender bottle. He put protein in his food but he never really thought about mixing it up as a drink.

“I hope your ok with the patterning on the scarf senpai… I didn’t have a clue when it came to your tastes so I sort of took a risk…”

“Don’t sweat it Ken, I love it. It’s always good to switch things up every once-in-a-while.”

Wrapping paper and tissue paper were flung everywhere across the living room and everyone’s cake plates were scattered on the floor and on the table. Shinjiro was acutely aware of the mountain of dishes waiting for him back in the kitchen.

Mitsuru clapped her hands and stood up from her seat.

“Alright everyone, let’s get this place all tidied up for the night!”

Everyone was slow to get up but the pace started to pick up as everyone returned their dishes to the kitchen and grab the garbage produced from their gift. Shinjiro parked himself in front of the kitchen sink and started to fill up one side with soap and water as he rifled through the dishes and sorted them. Many of the members offered to give Shinjiro a hand but he declined every offer saying how he wanted them to be ‘done right and done well’. No one argued with him and most retreated upstairs to their rooms so that they could admire their gifts and eventually fall asleep for the night.

Akihiko stayed behind, taking a seat on the same sofa he had fallen asleep on earlier. Shinjiro didn’t want his help either but he wanted to make sure that Shinjiro also didn’t stay up until the wee hours of the morning just doing dishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> little bit longer, didn't want to break up all the gift giving and stuff!


	8. Chapter 8

12/24 ° Sa  
Late Night

He wasn’t sure when it had happened but Akihiko had managed to fall asleep sitting up. He had been jolted awake by his body falling forward. It had been somewhere close to 3 hours since he had taken a seat and he saw that a light in the kitchen was still on.

_Shinji’s still up…Unbelievable…_

Akihiko pushed the kitchen door open but was shocked to see that Shinjiro wasn’t there. Neat arrangements of pots, pans, and dishes showed that Shinjiro had finished up everyones dishes so the light still being on made Akihiko uncomfortable.

_Maybe he does still have stuff he needs to finish up and he just went to the bathroom or something…_

Akihiko decided to linger in the kitchen to see if Shinjiro would come back. 10 quiet minutes passed by and nothing in the dorm stirred. _Alright I can’t let myself get too freaked out over something like this. Shinji goes out all the time and he always comes back in one piece so why would this time be any different?_ Akihiko couldn’t keep the sense of dread he was feeling at bay no matter how hard he tried to deny it. He exited the kitchen and made a dash for his room putting on the first warm things his eyes saw. He skipped a few stairs and left the dorm, making sure not to slam the door.

The night was cold and the pale half-moon above mixed with the florescent lights of the lamps as he walked to where his gut was taking him.

His feet eventually led him to the back of Iwatodai Station, the one place he could almost guarantee Shinjiro would be at. The place was as disgusting as always. The piles of garbage accumulating in the corner seemed like they were scaling up the walls. There was a stale scent that always had a sour alcoholic undertone that just never left your nose.

“Hey kid, what do you think you’re doing here? Isn’t it a little late for a goody Gekkoukan kid to be out? Especially in our back alley.”

Akihiko couldn’t help but look down at himself to see what gave him away to the stranger who was now starting to approach him. He didn’t see the school’s emblem anywhere on him.

“You ain’t wearin’ anything to show it but I see you hanging out with that Aragaki asshole and you got your uniform on 9 times outta 10 when you do.”

“I would suggest that you don’t come closer or else I won’t be liable for my actions.”

Akihiko wasn’t one to threaten people but this situation called for a tougher exterior than he usually portrayed. This wasn’t the boxing ring so there was no telling what the other guy could have but at least Akihiko knew he could rely on his fists if it came to blows. He tensed into his fighting stance and started to shift his weight on his legs intently watching the thug who had still not stopped walking towards him. He was reaching into his pocket for something but what it was Akihiko couldn’t tell.

“Aki what the hell are you doing here?”

“Shinji? What are you-“

Akihiko was distracted with Shinjiro’s arrival and didn’t notice that the other man had brandished a balisong. He already had it unsheathed and started to run at Akihiko. The boy wasn’t sure how to deflect the oncoming blade but knew that simply keeping himself open wasn’t a good solution. He crossed his arms over his face as he took a blind step to the right. He could hear the footsteps go past him and he heard the sound of shuffling fabric and metal contacting with metal. He dropped his arms and found that Shinjiro had grabbed the attacker by the arm that was holding the knife and had brandished his own balisong and now had it parallel to his neck.

“Drop the knife.”

Shinjiro was snarling and the man he was holding onto was visibly shaking with fear.

“S-Shinji…?” Akihiko had never seen Shinjiro this ruthless against another person before.

“I said, drop the knife.”

Shinjiro’s grip tightened around the man’s arm and he let out a yelp. The attackers hand opened and the balisong fell to the ground with a sound similar to a coin being dropped. Shinjiro spun the man with him and then gave him a push towards the exit of the alleyway. The man got the hint and took off into the night. Shinjiro did up his balisong and the man’s balisong and put them both into his left coat pocket and then turned to Akihiko.

“If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, don’t come back here looking for me. You’ll only wind up getting yourself into trouble.”

“Yeah that’s fine and all but what about YOU Shinji? When you just kind of leave the dorm without telling anyone about where you’re going isn’t that just the same?”

“No ‘cause I know my way around here and I can stand up for myself against anyone who even thinks of approaching me.”

Akihiko didn’t have a rebuttal because he knew that Shinjiro was speaking the truth and it hurt.

“Why’d you come lookin’ for me anyway? I left a note.”

“Where? I didn’t see one!”

“I left it over by the stovetop. I saw you passed out on the couch and I figured you would worry about me if I wasn’t still in there so I left you a note tellin’ you that I was gonna go grab something from the corner store and then come right back. ‘Guess that just kinda flew over your head?”

“I didn’t even see it! Anyway, note or not I was really worried about you Shinji! With your past history of just up and disappearing I always get a little worked up on the inside since I don’t know what’s happening to you at that moment and…”

“’And’ what Aki?”

Akihiko cut himself off before he could finish that thought since he knew he wouldn’t get away with not utterly embarrassing himself.

“Forget it. Just… maybe wake me up next time instead of leaving a note?”

“Yeah yeah.”

The two started to make their way back to the dorm. Akihiko hadn’t noticed before but it was snowing again and a new blanket was starting to pile up on top of the old snow.

“So why did you go out in the first place Shinji?”

“Oh, well that’s… uh…”

_Well clearly the answer is whatever you have in the bag so that means I just have to look inside!_

Akihiko made a quick grab for the brown paper bag that Shinjiro was carrying but Shinjiro was faster and quickly pulled the bag backwards resulting in Akihiko grabbing at empty air.

“Jeez Aki, have you no patience?”

“More curiosity than anything. You’re the one being all mysterious and not just saying what it is.”

“Yeah cause it’s for you dumbass.”

Akihiko faltered. “F-For me? But you weren’t my gift exchangee.”

“So? Am I suddenly not allowed to get you something?”

“N-No… I mean yes no… I don’t know!”

Akihiko was clearly flustered and another fit of silence ensued as he couldn’t find the words to explain himself. Shinjiro was secretly glad since that meant Akihiko was going to stop wrestling him for the bag. They arrived back at the dorm and Akihiko started to head in the direction of the stairs.

“I’m gonna go upstairs for a sec Shinji… Change into some more comfortable clothes.”

“Gotcha.”

The other boy left and Shinjiro fished the black box out of his pocket. He had grabbed it before he had left and he checked it for the umpteenth time to make sure the necklace was still in as good of a condition as it had been earlier that day. He shoved it back into his pocket and took off his beanie, smoothing it down his hair and fidgeting with the part line. He could hear Akihiko’s returning footsteps and he quickly went into the kitchen and grabbed one of the plates from dinner. He grabbed the small plastic container that was in the bag and opened it. He placed the simple piece of white cake down on the plate.

_Kinda wish I had a garnish for it but I don’t have the cash to go all out at the moment… I’m sure he’ll be fine with just this…_

Shinjiro grabs a fork and then holds the slice of cake behind his back as he exits the kitchen. Akihiko is sitting on the sofa in a relaxed, leaned back position so that the lower part of his torso was exposed. He has a smile on his face as he turns to face Shinjiro and returns to a more normal sitting position.

“So Shinji, what was in that bag that was for me?”

Akihiko seemed cooled off and not at all nervous. Shinjiro pulled the cake from behind his back with a quiet “ta-da” and then set the plate down in front of Akihiko. The other boy immediately took the plate and took a bite of cake.

“Plain vanilla cake with no frosting…”

“I noticed that you didn’t get a piece earlier…”

Akihiko set the plate back down on the table, his gaze hovering on it for a moment. Shinjiro couldn’t help but fidget a little before Akihiko finally looked at him.

“I uh… have something for you too Shinji…”

Akihiko pulled out a black box with the symbol of Shinshoudo Antiques branded on the top.

_No way…_

Shinjiro reached into his pocket and pulled out his black box that was the exact same as Akihiko’s.

“Wow… guess we were both thinking along the same lines…” Akihiko let out a laugh as he reached for Shinjiro’s gift. They exchanged the two black boxes and now had them in their respective laps only looking at them.

“Well, are you gonna open it or are you just gonna stare at it?”

“Well I was waiting for you to open yours…”

“You wanna open them at the same time again?”

“Yeah.”

The two opened the boxes and let out simultaneous gasps as they pulled out the chains from their box.

“Shinji… A necklace? For my rings?”

“Oh… A pocketwatch chain… How… nice.”

They both seemed less then enthralled at their gifts and exchanged pensive gazes.

“Aki””Shinji”

They said the others name at the same time but neither picked up their thought since they thought the other was going to go first.

“Shinji… I- I don’t have my rings anymore.”

“Wait, why? They were one of your most valuable things!”

“I… I had to sell them in order to get you that pocket watch chain…”

“But Aki, I don’t have my watch anymore. I sold it and some other stuff in order to get you that necklace.”

““I can’t believe you would do that.””

Once again they said what they were thinking at the exact same time. Akihiko looked genuinely upset at the gift he had been given which was not what Shinjiro had intended.

“Shinji, you didn’t have to do that you know! You could have gone without!”

“No I couldn’t cause I KNEW you would be getting me SOMETHING for this whole 13 years thing but I didn’t think you would be this stupid and get me something so freakin’ expensive! Moron, you could have just gotten me a piece of candy and I would have been perfectly content but instead you had to go and…”

Shinjiro let out an exasperated sigh and quickly closed the gap between him and Akihiko, sweeping the other boy into a tight hug. Akihiko was stiff at first but he relaxed and reciprocated and they stayed like that for a while.

“Dumbass.”

“Brute.”

Shinjiro broke the hug. He had one of his rare genuine smiles that reached his eyes and made him look so much younger. “Thank you Aki…”

“It’s no problem Shinji. Thanks for the necklace. Even if it doesn’t have anything to support right now I’ll be wearing it to remind myself of those I’m still working hard for.”

After the exchange the two stayed up and reminisced until the early hours of the morning before finally falling asleep on the couch together. The next morning Mitsuru came down and found them with Akihiko’s head nestled beneath Shinjiro’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A balisong is a butterfly knife. Always saw Shinji as a guy who would carry one. Can you imagine this big intimidating guy in a trenchcoat coming at you just casually spinning a knife? Love it.
> 
> Anyway, thanks to everyone who read and gave kudos and all that... Makes me feel warm and fuzzy when I know there are people out there who are reading my stuff! 
> 
> Got some more stuff in the works but I won't make any promises about how fast I'll get it done!


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